


I like my men like I like my coffee...

by 014469



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Barista Steve Rogers, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Insecure Steve Rogers, M/M, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Shy Bucky Barnes, War Veteran Bucky Barnes, smut in the epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:16:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10558582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/014469/pseuds/014469
Summary: Four little episodes in the love story between Steve Rogers, argumentative barista, and Bucky Barnes, tongue-tied office worker who should really stop listening to Clint's romantic advice; two where they didn't listen to one another, once where they actually tried to talk things out, and once where it was the things that went unsaid that really mattered.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I will make Bucky and Steve communicate healthily, goshdarnit!!
> 
> Note: The epilogue is a little smutty. If that's not your thing, you can still read the rest of the fic, just don't read episode number 4.

1\. **Ain’t nothing wrong with my mouth…**

‘Large black coffee for James?’ 

Steve yelled out into the chaos of the morning coffee rush as he shoved the completed order to the front of the counter. He scanned the waiting crowds quickly before turning back to the next order. 

‘One quad-shot black coffee for Clint – oh, and one large black coffee for James! James?’

Steve squinted into the crowd as he lined Clint’s regular order up – but the order for James was still unclaimed. Damn it, Steve didn’t have time to find the guy, the rush was too big. 

Clint grasped his coffee like his life depended on it, and judging from the way he sucked it down without even waiting for his drink to cool, maybe it did. Clint was weird like that. 

Steve concentrated on making his next order, and – yup, the order for James was still sitting on the counter. At this rate it would be cold before it was picked up and there was no way that Steve was re-making it just because some asshole couldn’t be bothered to pay attention. Steve yelled out the order name one last time before shrugging and leaving it there to be picked up whenever James caught on. 

Sure enough, not five minutes later a confused-looking young man wandered up to the counter. He was tall and broad with a thick, solid waist and muscled shoulders, just the type of guy Steve couldn’t help but notice. In addition to his beautiful build, he had shoulder-length brown hair tied back in a bun at the nape of his neck, piercing grey-blue eyes and a cute, dimpled chin. Gorgeous, just Steve’s type, but – no, Steve pushed down the flare of attraction he felt towards the customer and carried on making the orders that Darcy put through. Steve wasn’t above listening though, as the handsome man enquired, 

‘My friend ordered me a coffee a while ago, I was just wondering if it’s ready?’ he seemed almost nervous, not demanding but somehow apologetic?

‘What’s the name on the order?’ asked Darcy.

‘It’s uh – Bucky?’

‘Steve! We got an order for a Bucky on there?’

Steve glanced up at his row of dockets in confusion. There was no ‘Bucky’ there and he didn’t remember calling out an order with that name. Steve shook his head while never taking his eyes off the milk he was steaming, seeing Darcy shrug out of the corner of his eye.

‘Nope, sorry. No orders for Bucky here.’

Seemingly out of nowhere, a short red-headed woman appeared at Bucky’s elbow, takeaway cup of coffee clutched in one hand. Steve’s brain immediately screamed _Tall-no-whip-mocha-for-Natasha!!_ Steve hated his own brain sometimes. 

‘I put the order in for James, actually. That’s your name, isn’t it?’ she teased, affection obvious in her voice. As she spoke, _tall-no-whip-mocha-for-Natasha_ ruffled her hands through Bucky’s hair and he returned her affection with a fond smile.

Steve blushed bright red even though the teasing wasn’t directed at him. Public displays of affection made him veeeeeery nervous. He grabbed the unclaimed order for ‘James’ from the far end of the counter and held it out.

‘Oh! Well in that case, your order’s right here. It’s been waiting around for a while but you didn’t claim it, so…’ 

Steve made the mistake of looking Bucky/James in the eye and trailed off. Bucky was looking straight at him, gorgeous grey eyes fixed intently on his face. As Steve watched, Bucky also started to blush a little and time seemed to slow down as Bucky flicked his tongue out to swipe over his bottom lip, the tiny nervous gesture seeming almost unbearably erotic. Damn it, now was not the time to be fantasizing about beautiful customers who didn’t even recognise their own name!

Bucky grinned wide enough to make the corners of his eyes crinkle up, and Steve thought that it made him look very kind. Feeling his face flush even further, Steve turned back to the pile of orders he had yet to make in order to avoid having to make any more eye contact, so he didn’t see the way Bucky’s grin turned soft as he watched Steve work or the way he followed the quick, precise movements of Steve’s hands as he tamped and poured the next coffee shot. 

‘Well, thank you for saving this idiot from his a caffeine-deprived hell of his own making,’ joked _Tall-No-Whip-Mocha-For-Natasha_ , before pulling Bucky out the door with the hand not holding her coffee planted firmly on the back of one of those deliciously broad shoulders. 

Steve and Darcy got through the rest of the morning rush without incident, thank God, so that it was almost 11am by the time Darcy turned to Steve, cleaning rag in hand and devious smile on her face, and said, 

‘So, did you write your number on the side of his cup?’

‘Huh?’ What was Darcy talking about now?

‘Tall-dark-and-handsome, you know!’

‘Who?’ Steve was genuinely confused. 

‘Urgh, Steve – James. Bucky – whatever his name was! Large-black-coffee-to-go? Couldn’t remember his own name? You guys made cow-eyes at each other for like ten minutes and you seriously don’t remember him?’

‘Oh! Black coffee guy. Yeah he was kinda cute – and hey! There were no cow-eyes!’

‘Ohooo yes there damn well were! He was looking at you like he wanted to eat you!’

‘He was not! Darce, don’t tease me. He was probably looking at me like I’m the moron who couldn’t even speak to him without sounding like a lovestruck teenager.’

‘Steeeeeeeeeve, you are a love-sick teenager!’

‘Steve gasped in mock-outrage, ‘I’m twenty-four!’

‘Well you look sixteen. And James wanted to devour you.’

‘Kinda creepy when you say it like that.’

Darcy considered for a second. Self-reflection did not come naturally to her. ‘Yeah, ok, whatever, it kinda did. My bad.’

Steve shook himself as they continued to stock back up before the lunchtime rush. He knew he was short, skinny, bad-tempered and sickly – not exactly a catch even for someone who wasn’t as gorgeous as Bucky/James had been. It would have been nice, he thought, to have been flirted with by the tall, muscular guy for once in his life, but that sort of thing didn’t happen to him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Large-black-coffee was here. Again. He carefully gave his name as _Bucky_ this time, then took a seat near the counter as he waited for his order to be made. Steve pretended not to watch him as he fiddled with the stupid takeaway cup lids that for some reason always managed to give him paper cuts despite being made of plastic. What the hell, take-away-cup-manufacturers-of-the-world?

‘One large black coffee for Bucky!’

Bucky stood and walked purposefully up to the counter. He grabbed his coffee but didn’t leave. Instead, he poured a truly inadvisable amount of sugar into the cup and stirred it with a plastic spoon before popping the lid back on. Steve carried on pretending not to watch him as he steamed the milk for the next order, but Bucky still didn’t leave. Steve was so preoccupied trying not to let Bucky catch him staring that he let the milk burn, boiled foam erupting over the edge of the jug and all over Steve’s shoes. Steve tensed, waiting for the jeers, but all he got was a sardonic eyebrow raise from Darcy. 

Steve avoided Bucky’s eye as he re-poured the milk and put up the order, but there was no avoiding it as he had to lean over the counter to call out the finished order. To Steve’s immense surprise, Bucky was staring right back at him, not even trying to hide his level grey gaze. Well, the last thing Steve needed was to be stared at while he made an idiot of himself, especially by gorgeous men. Already, he could feel his quick temper starting to heat up.

‘Something wrong, pal? Coffee not burnin’ your mouth, I hope?’

Bucky didn’t even look embarrassed to be caught out. He winked at Steve with such exaggerated lasciviousness that Steve had to blush, just a little bit, even though this was undoubtedly just teasing. 

‘Ain’t nothing wrong with my mouth, don’t you worry.’ The asshole even _licked his lips_ and oooooOOOOOOOOooooooohhhhhh good God Steve thought he might have to go and stick his head in the freezer from how that comment made his temper rise. He did not deserve to be made fun of by beautiful asshole men just because he was trying to make conversation with a customer at work. Steve’s fuse, which was short to begin with, began to blaze.

‘Was that meant to be a joke? I’m trying to work here, I can do without the sexual harassment.’

Bucky’s face immediately dropped, eyes wide and mouth tight. At least he had the grace to look embarrassed, thought Steve. 

‘Oh! Uh… no, I…’ Bucky took a too-large gulp of his coffee, and grimaced at the heat which made him dribble a little down his chin. Steve’s shoulders shook once in a darkly satisfied laugh before he smoothed himself over. He was at work, after all. 

Seeming to know when to cut his losses, Bucky just wiped the coffee off his chin and collar, turned abruptly around and strode out of the coffee shop without another word. Steve did not stare at him go. It might have been the fastest he’d ever seen Bucky move, he thought as he pulled the next shot of coffee, trying not to think about how the beautiful ones were always the meanest. 

 

2\. **Small packages…**

‘Small black coffee for… Bucky?’ 

Damn it, he hadn’t even seen Bucky come in this time. Not that Steve had had the time to look up from the slew of orders in front of him for the last hour or so. Lost in the workflow, he could almost pretend that he was doing something he enjoyed… but calling out Bucky’s name had jolted him out of the flow so fast he thought he might have whiplash. 

Bucky sloped up to the counter, looking sheepish and uncomfortable. Good, thought Steve grimly. Perhaps next time he might think twice before making fun of people while they were at work and unable to give as profane an answer as they might otherwise have done. Having slid the order up on the counter and ready to be collected, Steve immediately turned back to his row of orders. He didn’t want to make eye contact and risk another insulting ‘flirtation’ which, he was sure, was only done to make fun of him. Steve had, unfortunately, had a lot of bad experiences when it came to dating, and in the sum of his experiences, beautiful men did not flirt with people like him. This was undoubtedly some kind of dudebro- thing although the mindset of bro- culture remained a mystery to him. Steve could almost hear the unsaid ‘No homo!’ echoing through Bucky’s stupid flirtation the last time they’d spoken. No, it had to be some kind of joke. It just was, because… because it… it just was, ok? That was the way things were, and so Steve entirely missed the silent apology in Bucky’s grey eyes as he glanced at Steve while grabbing his coffee and stirring three sugars into it with terse motions. 

 

Bucky took his sweetened coffee with a muttered thanks. He paused for a moment as though he was going to say something, but catching sight of Steve’s hunched shoulders and downturned face, he stayed silent and turned back to his coffee. Bucky stayed like that, forearms leaning on the counter as he sipped away in heavy silence for a few leaden moments. Steve inhaled sharply, and carried on with his orders. He bit his cheek, trying to ignore the tension in the air between himself and Bucky, but eventually it just became unbearably uncomfortable. Steve sighed – he hated making small talk with customers – but the silence and the furtive glances when Bucky thought Steve wasn’t looking really were a little too much to deal with. 

‘So – Bucky, is it? How's the coffee?’

 

Bucky immediately perked up at the sound of Steve’s voice, and his tense stance immediately melted into something a little softer. It was almost nice, and Steve thought that maybe he’d misinterpreted Bucky’s attempts at conversation as something ruder than he’d meant it last time. This adorably grinning man with his Tenacious D band t-shirt and soft messy hair bun looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly. 

‘It’s uh – fine. Real good cup.’ 

Bucky raised his coffee in a little salute and Steve smiled in return. This was fine, he could deal with beautiful men who appreciated good coffee; yep, this was fine. Emboldened by the success of this conversation so far, Steve decided it wouldn’t be unbearable to carry on.

‘Smaller coffee today, you got somewhere to be?’

Bucky leaned in towards Steve, his voice low and intimate, and Steve couldn’t help but lean in himself.

 

‘Well as much as I do love getting something large and hot inside myself, sometimes I have to admit that good things come in smaller packages.’

What. The. Hell. This was what Steve got for being a nice person? Inappropriate comments and fucking size jokes? Just when he’d been beginning to think that Bucky wasn’t a complete dickhead? Not. Fucking. Fair. 

Steve let the smile drop from his face and leaned away. Stupid, he’d been so stupid.

‘Hey, you wanna shut the hell up? I mean really? Size jokes? Look, asshole, I’m sure your dick is huge or whatever, but there is no need to whip it out and measure it when I’m at work. Or ever, for that matter!’

Bucky reared back with a panicked expression on his face, raising his hands in front of him in a placating gesture.

‘Nononono!! That’s – no, no that’s not what I –’

‘Save it, pal. You wanna leave this shop right now? You’re clogging up the counter space and I’m trying to make coffee.’

Bucky’s shoulders slumped. 

‘Sure. Sorry, uh… Steve. I didn’t… ugh. I’m going.’

Steve found himself once again watching Bucky walk dejectedly out of his shop, but this time he felt like he’d been an asshole. Could he, possibly, have got the wrong end of the stick? 

 

 

3\. **Free coffee?**

Steve found that he couldn’t concentrate on his orders for the rest of the day. He replayed the interaction with Bucky in his mind. Whereas before he’d been so convinced that he was right, that Bucky was being an asshole and making fun of him, now he was having second thoughts. 

But admitting that he’d got it wrong would mean admitting that – what? Bucky was actually flirting with him? 

Nah, no way. People like Bucky did not flirt with people like Steve, that was one of the essential rules of his life and Steve had never seen anything, or anyone, come even close to breaking that rule. Yeah, so maybe an endless parade of bullies had made Steve a little prickly, so what? It was far safer to assume that people would disappoint him than it was to assume that they wanted to be friends with him. That, he knew from painful experience, would just end in tears. 

So. 

No way.

Ok, but. 

For the brief moment before he’d got angry at Bucky for his admittedly very inappropriate comment, it had been nice talking to him. For all of that one sentence, he’d looked… kind. Sort of like when they’d first met and all Steve had been able to focus on was how gorgeously his eyes crinkled when he smiled. 

Racked for too long by guilt and indecision, by the end of his shift Steve had made a decision. The very next time Bucky came in, Steve was going to apologise to him. It was the right thing to do, even if it would be a truly painful experience. Steve _hated_ being wrong, and hated admitting that he was wrong, and apologising for being wrong, but… damn it, he knew he had a temper, knew it got the better of him more often than he’d like, and… well, maybe, possibly, there was a tiny chance that he’d been too harsh with Bucky and that he should give him a chance to explain himself. Maybe. But this was the last chance! One more dickhead comment and Steve would ask the manager to bar him from the café. Phil would do it, he was good like that. 

The next time Bucky came in, it was a rainy Wednesday, almost three months after Steve had asked him to leave, and Steve had long since given up waiting for him to come back. Sure, he thought of Bucky with a twinge of guilt every now and again, but he couldn’t deny that his work days had been a lot less fraught with anxiety and shame since he’d stopped looking hopefully after everyone who came through the door to catch a glimpse of that dark brown hair and those storm-grey eyes. 

Still. Steve’s heart jumped when he recognised the silky voice at the counter, and his heartbeat pounded in his throat. This was it; Go Time. Steve set down the packet of beans he was opening, stepped up to the counter, and covered the card machine with his hand. Darcy, who was just about to ring up Bucky’s coffee, tried to bat his hand away and glared at him in angry confusion when he didn’t move it. Luckily, Bucky was the only customer in the shop, so he wasn’t getting between anyone else and their precious caffeine with his grand apology. 

‘I’ve got this one Darce.’

Bucky raised one eyebrow but said nothing. Darcy, seeming to understand that something big was about to go down, merely stepped away from the register and disappeared into the back room. If Steve knew her, which he did, he’d bet that she was pressed against the door frame listening in, but there was no turning back now. 

‘Your coffee today’s on me. I… look I think I may have been unforgivably rude to you last time you were in here, and I’m sorry. Let me give you this coffee on the house as an apology.’

Bucky, whose face had gone from shuttered to confused to astounded to delighted as Steve had said his piece, now cracked into a warm smile, and Steve couldn’t help but smile back, a little awkwardly but nevertheless genuinely relieved.

‘Well I’m not gonna say no to free coffee, especially if you’re the one making it, so… apology accepted. Thank you.’

Wait… what? Was it really going to be that easy? Bucky wasn’t going to drag it out or humiliate him or make fun of him… he was just going to… accept?? The apology?? Like that was a thing people did nowadays????

Steve could feel his face settling into a suspicious pout which he tried his hardest to smooth over. He nodded tightly and moved over to the coffee machine, calling out, 

‘The usual, yeah? Large black coffee to go?’

‘Sure, thanks Steve.’ 

Steve couldn’t help but like the way his name sounded in Bucky’s mouth. Was it so wrong of him to hope that he’d get a chance to hear it again? 

‘… y’know, I wasn’t actually trying to make fun of you,’ Bucky admitted after he’d accepted the steaming coffee from Steve, ‘I get that I came across badly and I’m sorry, but… that wasn’t my intention.’

Steve stiffened. He _really_ didn’t want to have to get into this again.

‘What was your intention?’ asked Steve, keeping his voice light. He turned to sweep a few coffee grounds off the counter top and cleaned out his groups with a dry cloth, trying anything to keep his hands busy. 

‘I just… ugh, I’m a mess. I should never take flirting advice from my friends.’

Wait, what?

‘Wait, what?’ Steve was not known for his ability to talk coherently around beautiful people, but this was just unexpected. 

‘I mean, I’m sorry if I came across as obnoxious, but… I guess I should know better than to flirt with people while they’re working. I know I hate it. I just couldn’t think of a way to talk to you and I stupidly let my friend Clint give me some lines. I really do apologise and I promise it won’t happen again.’

That… was not what Steve expected to hear. 

‘Wait a second, so you weren’t making fun of me?’

‘Why would I be making fun of you?’

‘Why would you be flirting with me?’ Steve couldn’t help the defensive note that crept into his voice at that. 

‘Like I said, I’m sorry. I’m not good at talking to gorgeous people.’ Bucky hung his head a little and pushed off the counter with both hands as if he was getting ready to leave, but – no. Steve was not having another misunderstanding. Not now. 

‘OK, you stop that right now. That’s my line.’

Bucky looked back at Steve, eyes wide and hopeful.

‘Steve?’

Steve pushed a hand through his unruly hair, knowing that it would smell like coffee oil for days but not caring at that moment.

‘Why would you… _you_ … want to flirt with me? Have you seen you? And then… _me_?’

Bucky stared at Steve in utter incomprehension, mouth hanging slightly open in shock. Then, he seemed to shake himself, closed his mouth and came back to the counter. Bucky stuck out his right hand for Steve to shake, which he did with a numb kind of hope. 

‘Hey, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Bucky Barnes. I’m no good at flirting and I should definitely not listen to my friends’ romantic advice anymore, but I’ve been coming to this coffee shop for months in the hope that the cute blond barista will talk to me. Pleased to meet you.’

Steve couldn’t help the little giggle that welled up at the serious look on Bucky’s face. He schooled his own face into a stern reply, and, still slowly shaking Bucky’s hand, said, ‘Hi Bucky, I’m Steve Rogers. I enjoy strong coffee and long walks on the beach, jumping to horrible conclusions about people and staring awkwardly at the hot brunet who comes into my coffee shop every week, and I am very, very pleased to finally meet you.’

 

Bucky’s laugh was like sunshine, lighting up his whole body and making the entire café seem warmer just from his presence. His awkward, shy smile had transformed Steve into something else entirely, his crops were watered, his skin was clear, his grades were perfect etc. It was, all things considered, one hell of a gorgeous smile on one hell of a gorgeous man. 

‘Well, Stevie,’ Bucky put a devious emphasis on his name and Steve couldn’t suppress a little shiver, ‘I dunno about long walks on the beach, but I’d love to talk you out some time. If – that is, if you want to. Date me. It would be a date, if you… ugh. I’ll just shut up now.’

Steve laughed. ‘I’m beginning to see why you needed your friends to feed you lines,’ he teased. 

Bucky’s crop-watering smile once again let Steve know that he’d made the right choice by talking to Bucky today. 

‘I’d love to go on a date with you, Bucky, on one condition.’

‘Oh yeah? What’s that?’

‘No coffee involved. ‘

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

4\. **Epilogue: Two years later…**

Bucky knew that the night would end like this, with himself on his back and Stevie driving into him like it was the last thing he’d ever do. He knew that their bed sheets would be rumpled and sweaty, knew that they’d likely earn themselves a disapproving stare from their neighbour Sam Wilson in the morning, knew that Steve would have to stop soon and take a breather before his asthma put a permanent dent in their plans, but right now he did not care. Not when Steve was curling his fingers around Bucky’s desperately hard cock and stroking him in time with his thrusts. Not when every time Steve said his name it felt like coming home, and there was nowhere he’d rather be.

With a small huff, Steve came inside Bucky, so intense that he could feel the pulses of Steve’s dick in his ass, and that feeling was enough to tip Bucky over the crest of his own pleasure into a long and pleasantly exhausting orgasm. Flushed and sweaty, Steve carefully pulled out, rolled the condom off himself and flung it into their bedroom bin, which was double-lined for exactly these types of situations, because Steve always insisted that he couldn’t tie a knot in a condom after sex with Bucky to save his life, and fuck knows Bucky was too loose and fucked-out right now to do anything as dextrous as tie a knot in cell-thin latex. 

Once cleaned up, Steve and Bucky settled under the covers of their bed, in their apartment. After two years with Steve, Bucky knew that right now, after sex and just before drifting off to sleep, was one of the only moments his adorably stubborn boyfriend would let himself be coddled, and Bucky was going to take full advantage of that. It had been a steep learning process at first, dealing with Steve’s almost incoherent need to prove that he didn’t need to be taken care of, but if there was one thing that Bucky Barnes had learned in his career as a soldier, and then as a defence contractor for Stark Industries, it was how to be patient. 

Cherishing the opportunity to wrap his boyfriend in his arms, hold him against his chest and scratch fingers through Steve’s hair, Bucky smiled as he listened carefully to Steve’s breathing even out. 

‘Happy anniversary, Stevie.’

Steve snorted, ‘Happy anniversary, Buck. Hey, d’you remember how we met?’

‘How could I forget it? You made a hell of a first impression, pal.’

‘I acted like such a dick to you, why did you ever agree to go out with me?’

‘As I recall it, Steve, I was the one who acted like a dick and you were the one who did me a favour by agreeing to date me.’

Steve raised his head from where it rested against Bucky’s broad chest, an indignant look on his face which Bucky could pick out even in the semi-darkness of their room. 

‘Hey, don’t be so harsh on yourself. You’re amazing and you deserve to get what you want. Even if you were a bit of a dick.’

Oh fuck, but that immediate fierce impulse to defend people he loved, not to let Bucky talk himself down, that iron-clad adherence to what was right no matter the consequences, that was the thing that made Bucky fall deeply in love with Steve for the first time, and that was the reason why he stayed in love, deeper and deeper every day.

‘Stevie…’ Bucky couldn’t keep the smile off his face, ‘I really, really love you.’ Bucky dipped his head to kiss Steve’s beautiful pink mouth, smiling all the time. 

‘Well I really, really love you too.’ Steve cuddled his head back into Bucky’s chest and sighed. 

Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve a little tighter, squeezing his adorable boyfriend, and was rewarded by a retaliatory lick to his left nipple which made Bucky jolt upwards.

‘Hey, no squish!’

‘But you’re just so squishable,’ Bucky countered,

‘Am not.’ Bucky could always tell when Steve was angry and when, like now, he was just being a little shit for the hell of it. 

‘Are too! I just wanna squish you all the time,’ Bucky slid his hand down to Steve’s ass and gave it a proprietary squeeze to illustrate his point, and Steve chuckled. 

‘Mmm-hmm, is that what the kids are calling it these days? I know what you wanna squish, Mr Barnes.’

‘Plenty of time for that, though. Plenty of time for as much “squishing” as you want, Mr Rogers.’

‘Yeah?’ Steve’s voice sounded a little odd when he said that, and Bucky got the feeling that he wasn’t just talking about sex.

‘Yeah, Stevie. All the time in the world,’ Bucky replied softly. He knew _exactly_ what he was saying.

Steve brought his left hand around and laced his fingers with Bucky’s right hand in lieu of an answer. Bucky lifted their joined hands up to his mouth and kissed every one of Steve’s fingers, slightly overwhelmed but ever so sure of what he was silently agreeing to. 

Steve readjusted his head on Bucky’s chest, his grip on Bucky’s hand loosened a little as he drifted off to sleep. Bucky listened to the measured rhythm of Steve’s breaths as he slept, reassuring himself that he wasn’t headed for an asthma attack any more. He only let himself sleep when he was certain that their rather enthusiastic lovemaking wasn’t going to become a problem for Steve, secure in the knowledge that Steve, the love of his life, was secure in his arms. 

For his part, the last thought Steve had before he went to sleep, and the first one he had upon waking the next morning, was that he never wanted to leave the warmth and safety of Bucky’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: all of Steve's frustrations with coffee shop work, cup lids, unsolicited flirting from customers and people who don't claim their orders are the authors frustrations from eight years of working in hospitality. Be kind to your baristas, people!


End file.
